Tag: banks

Grand Mufti defends Lebanese champions rights of depositors

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan on Wednesday called for “preserving people’s deposits and savings,” stressing that “the solutions for the financial and economic crisis should not be at the expense of depositors and their lifelong savings.” The solutions “should be at the expense of those who plunged the country into the current deterioration at […]

IMF agrees to give Lebanon $3 billion

The IMF announced Thursday that after months of negotiations it reached a staff-level agreement to provide Lebanon with $3 billion in aid to help it emerge from a severe economic crisis. The country has been battered by triple digit inflation, soaring poverty rates, and the collapse of its currency since a 2020 debt default, and […]

Mikati meeting possible replacements to central bank chief

Prime Minister Najib Miqati met in the past days with a number of potential candidates for replacing embattled Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, who is facing a host of lawsuits inside and outside Lebanon, a media report said on Friday. The latest European measures against Salameh and some associates are what pushed Miqati to consider […]

IMF in 2-week crisis meeting with Lebanon

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation kicked off talks in Beirut Wednesday as part of a two-week mission aimed at securing progress towards funding for crisis-hit Lebanon. The government is hoping to secure a rescue package to exit a deep financial crisis that started in 2019 and has seen most of the country's population fall […]

Lira projected to 93% of value as dollar deposits slashed

A government plan for tackling Lebanon's financial crisis projects a 93% devaluation of the Lebanese pound and converts the bulk of hard currency deposits in the banking system to local currency, according to a blueprint seen by Reuters. Of $104 billion of hard currency deposits, the plan foresees returning just $25 billion to savers in […]

Kuwait FM hands Lebanon list of international requirements

Al-Akhbar newspaper said Monday it has obtained a copy of the list of suggestions handed to President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Miqati by Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah. Below is the full text of the paper, as published by al-Akhbar: "In order to bridge the gap between Lebanon and the […]

Seoul pays Iran's overdue UN dues

Using Iranian bank funds freed from American sanctions, South Korea has paid Iran’s $18 million in delinquent dues owed to the United Nations, Seoul said Sunday. The step was apparently approved by Washington to restore Tehran’s suspended voting rights at the world body. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a […]

Mikati defends himself against charges of medling in financial investigation

Lebanon's prime minister said on Wednesday that the government had not interfered with the judiciary's work, after reports that he had put pressure on a judge who is seeking data from banks in an investigation into the conduct of the central bank governor. Najib Mikati said last month that veteran governor Riad Salameh, who is at the […]

Mikati defends central bank governor over embezzlement charges

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Tuesday that central bank Governor Riad Salameh should remain in position for now, signalling continued political backing for him despite embezzlement probes at home and abroad. "One does not change their officers during a war," Mikati told a news conference in reference to Salameh, adding that he would […]

Aoun promises IMF team Lebanon is committed to reform

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday told an International Monetary Fund delegation that Lebanon is “committed to devising a feasible reformist plan” and to “cooperating with IMF to approve it quickly.” Aoun also said that “the priority should be given to the social and health issues, and to confronting poverty and moving forward in repairing infrastructure […]

Lebanon still hasn't told IMF full extent of financial losses

Lebanon has yet to give the IMF its estimate of losses in the financial system as discussions on the issue continue, but is working hard to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Fund by year-end, governor Riad Salameh told Reuters on Tuesday. Disagreements in Lebanon over the size of the losses and how they […]

Riad Salameh pleads innocence, asks audit firm to prove this

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said Wednesday that he has asked a renowned audit firm to audit the transactions and investments that were subject to media “campaigns” against him. Salameh said in a statement that the results of the audit firm invalidated “false information” that he has used public funds to pay fees to the […]

Bassil wants Lebanese prosecution of central bank chief

Head of the Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil asked Monday why Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh hasn’t been prosecuted in Lebanon yet. “Is it acceptable for Salameh to be prosecuted and interrogated in many European countries but not in Lebanon?” Bassil questioned in a tweet. “He is the person most involved in serious money laundering […]

Lebanese judges want de-politicisation of their profession

The Lebanese Judges Association warned Wednesday against judicial politicization, urging the politicians to stop interfering in the Judiciary and to “let the judicial path go on without abuse.” They said in a statement that “Lebanese politicians tend to destroy anything they deal with.” “They disrupted the economy, looted the banking sector, deformed the public sector, […]

IMF in preparatory talks with Lebanon for new aid package

The IMF has begun "preparatory" talks with Lebanon on a new aid package after receiving an official request from Beirut, an IMF spokesman said Thursday. That will be a welcome relief to the new government that is trying to stem an economic crisis the World Bank brands as one of the worst since the mid-19th […]

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